📖 Injili ya Yohana — Sehemu ya 1: Neno Alifanyika Mwili📖 The Gospel of John — Unit 1: The Word Made Flesh

Utangulizi — Hapo Mwanzo Kulikuwako NenoIntroduction — In the Beginning Was the Word

Kila Injili nyingine huanza na hori ya kulishia wanyama au na orodha ya ukoo. Yohana anaanza kabla ulimwengu haujaanza. Wakati Mathayo anamfuatilia Yesu hadi kwa Ibrahimu na Luka hadi kwa Adamu, Yohana anafika nyuma kupita uumbaji wenyewe na kuifungua Injili yake katika umilele: "Hapo mwanzo kulikuwako Neno" (Yohana 1:1). Kwa makusudi anarudia maneno ya kwanza ya Mwanzo — "Hapo mwanzo Mungu" — na anakuambia, kabla hajakuambia jambo lingine lolote, Yesu huyu ni nani hasa. Kozi hii itapitia ishara saba za Yohana, kauli zake saba kuu za "MIMI NDIMI", na msururu wa mashahidi anaowaita kizimbani ili kuthibitisha jambo moja: kwamba Yesu ndiye Kristo, Mwana wa Mungu, na kwamba kwa kuamini, mpate kuwa na uzima. Lakini yote yanasimama juu ya dai hili la kwanza. Ukikosea Dibaji, utaikosea Injili nzima. Ukiipata sawa, kila kitu kingine kinafunguka.Every other Gospel begins with a manger or a genealogy. John begins before the world began. While Matthew traces Jesus back to Abraham and Luke back to Adam, John reaches past creation itself and opens his Gospel in eternity: "In the beginning was the Word" (John 1:1). He is deliberately echoing the first words of Genesis — "In the beginning God" — and he is telling you, before he tells you anything else, who this Jesus really is. This course will walk through John's seven signs, his seven great "I AM" sayings, and the parade of witnesses he calls to the stand to prove one thing: that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing, you may have life. But it all rests on this first claim. Get the Prologue wrong and you will get the whole Gospel wrong. Get it right, and everything else opens.

I. Neno Alikuwa MunguI. The Word Was God

Soma mstari huu polepole, kwa sababu Yohana anaweka mambo matatu ya milele katika sentensi moja. "Hapo mwanzo kulikuwako Neno, naye Neno alikuwako kwa Mungu, naye Neno alikuwa Mungu" (Yohana 1:1). Neno tayari alikuwako wakati mwanzo ulipoanza — hakuanza kuwako; Yeye alikuwako tu. Neno alikuwako kwa Mungu — uso kwa uso, Nafsi iliyo tofauti, si wazo tu katika akili ya Mungu. Na Neno alikuwa Mungu — si mungu fulani, si mungu mdogo, si wa kwanza na bora zaidi kati ya viumbe vya Mungu, bali Mungu Mwenyewe. Wengine wamejaribu kulainisha kifungu hicho cha mwisho kiwe "Neno alikuwa mungu." Lakini Yohana haruhusu jambo hilo. Neno yule yule aliyekuwako kwa Mungu alikuwa Mungu; uungu kamili na Nafsi iliyo tofauti, vyote vimeshikwa katika pumzi moja. Hii ndiyo mbegu ya fundisho la Utatu, iliyopandwa katika mstari wa kwanza wa kitabu.Read the verse slowly, because John packs three eternities into one sentence. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God" (John 1:1). The Word already was when the beginning began — He did not come into being; He simply was. The Word was with God — face to face, a distinct Person, not merely an idea in God's mind. And the Word was God — not a god, not a junior deity, not the first and finest of God's creatures, but God Himself. Some have tried to soften that last clause into "the Word was a god." But John will not allow it. The same Word who was with God was God; full deity and distinct Person, both held in a single breath. This is the seed of the doctrine of the Trinity, planted in the first verse of the book.

Kwa nini Yohana, aliyemjua Yesu, aliyeegemea kifuani pake wakati wa chakula cha jioni, aliyemwona akilia na akitoka damu, anaanzia juu namna hii? Kwa sababu alikuwa amefikia kujua kwamba yule seremala wa Nazareti alikuwa Mungu wa milele. Hajengi hoja kuelekea hitimisho hilo mwishoni mwa Injili yake; analitangaza katika mstari wa kwanza na anatumia sura ishirini na moja kuonyesha kwamba ni kweli.Why does John, who knew Jesus, who leaned on His chest at supper, who watched Him weep and bleed, begin so high? Because he had come to know that the carpenter from Nazareth was the eternal God. He is not building up to that conclusion at the end of his Gospel; he announces it in the first line and spends twenty-one chapters showing it to be true.

II. Vyote Vilifanyika kwa HuyoII. All Things Were Made Through Him

Ikiwa Neno ni Mungu, basi tazama kinachofuata: "Vyote vilifanyika kwa huyo; wala pasipo yeye hakikufanyika cho chote kilichofanyika" (Yohana 1:3). Yule ambaye baadaye angechoka sana hata kulala ndani ya mashua ndiye aliyeiumba bahari aliyolalia. Mikono ambayo ingetobolewa kwa misumari ndiyo mikono iliyozitupa nyota gizani. Hakuna hata kitu kimoja kilichoumbwa — wala atomu, wala malaika, wala galaksi ambazo darubini ndiyo kwanza zinaanza kuzigundua — ambacho Yeye hakukiumba. Tutakutana na mtindo huu wa Uungu-na-ubinadamu tena na tena katika Injili hii, kwa maana unapita katika utu wote wa Kristo. Kama mwanadamu alichoka, lakini kama Mungu anavihifadhi vitu vyote kwa neno la uweza wake. Kama mwanadamu aliomba maji ya kunywa kisimani, lakini kama Mungu ndiye chemchemi ambayo kila mto ulimwagwa kutoka kwake. Kama mwanadamu alikufa, lakini kama Mungu hangeweza kushikwa na mauti. Muumba aliingia ndani ya kazi ya mikono yake mwenyewe.If the Word is God, then look what follows: "All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made" (John 1:3). The One who would later be too tired to stay awake in a boat is the One who made the sea He slept upon. The hands that would be pierced with nails are the hands that flung the stars into the dark. There is not a single created thing — not an atom, not an angel, not a galaxy the telescopes are only now beginning to find — that He did not make. We will meet this divine-and-human pattern again and again in this Gospel, for it runs through the whole of who Christ is. As a man He grew weary, but as God He upholds all things by the word of His power. As a man He asked for a drink at a well, but as God He is the spring from which every river was poured. As a man He died, but as God He could not be held by death. The Maker entered His own making.

III. Naye Neno Alifanyika MwiliIII. And the Word Became Flesh

Sasa unakuja mstari ambao unapaswa kusimamisha moyo wako. "Naye Neno alifanyika mwili, akakaa kwetu" (Yohana 1:14). Mungu wa milele, aliyeviumba vitu vyote, hakuutembelea tu ulimwengu wake wala kutuma ujumbe ndani yake. Yeye alifanyika mwili. Neno analotumia Yohana kwa "akakaa" lina maana ya kwamba alipiga hema lake, alikaa katika maskani kati yetu — Mungu yule yule ambaye utukufu wake uliwahi kuijaza hema jangwani sasa aliufunika utukufu huo kwa ngozi na mifupa na akaishi juu ya mavumbi yale yale aliyoyaumba. Fikiria maana yake. Yule asiye na mipaka alifanyika mtoto mchanga. Yeye aishikaye bahari mkononi mwake aliwahi kuwa mdogo kiasi cha kushindwa kuinua kichwa chake mwenyewe. Neno aliyeutamka uumbaji ukawako alijifunza, akiwa mvulana, kutamka maneno yake ya kwanza magotini mwa mama yake.Now comes the verse that should stop your heart. "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us" (John 1:14). The eternal God, who made all things, did not merely visit His world or send a message into it. He became flesh. The word John uses for "dwelt" means He pitched His tent, He tabernacled among us — the same God whose glory once filled a tent in the wilderness now wrapped that glory in skin and bone and lived on the same dust He had made. Think of what that means. The infinite became an infant. The One who holds the oceans in His hand was once too small to lift His own head. The Word who spoke creation into being learned, as a boy, to speak His first words at His mother's knee.

Acha nikueleze jinsi jambo hili limenigusa siku zote, ndugu yangu. Kama mwanadamu aliona njaa nyikani, lakini kama Mungu Yeye ndiye mkate wa uzima. Kama mwanadamu alilala katika dhoruba, lakini kama Mungu alitembea juu ya mawimbi. Kama mwanadamu alilia kaburini, lakini kama Mungu Yeye ndiye ufufuo na uzima. Kama mwanadamu alitoka damu na kufa, lakini kama Mungu alitoka siku ya tatu akiwa na funguo za mauti mkononi mwake. Mungu kamili na mwanadamu kamili — si nusu ya kila upande, si Mungu aliyevaa mwili kama vazi la kujificha wala mwanadamu aliyepandishwa cheo kuwa Mungu, bali Mungu mzima na mwanadamu mzima, wameunganishwa milele katika Nafsi moja. Hii ndiyo siri ambayo Injili yote ya Yohana inaizunguka, nasi hatutafika kamwe mwisho wa kina chake. Hatukukusudiwa kufika. Tumekusudiwa kuabudu.Let me put it to you the way it has always struck me, brother. As a man He hungered in the wilderness, but as God He is the bread of life. As a man He slept in the storm, but as God He walked out upon the waves. As a man He wept at a grave, but as God He is the resurrection and the life. As a man He bled and died, but as God He came forth on the third day with the keys of death in His hand. Fully God and fully man — not half of each, not God in a costume of flesh nor a man promoted to God, but the whole of God and the whole of a man, joined forever in one Person. This is the mystery the whole Gospel of John circles around, and we will never get to the bottom of it. We are not meant to. We are meant to worship.

IV. Palikuwa na Mtu Ametumwa Kutoka kwa Mungu: Shahidi wa KwanzaIV. There Was a Man Sent From God: The First Witness

Katikati ya wimbo huu wa juu sana kuhusu Neno wa milele, Yohana anaingiza jina moja la mwanadamu. "Palikuwa na mtu, ametumwa kutoka kwa Mungu, jina lake Yohana. Huyo alikuja kwa ushuhuda, ili aishuhudie ile nuru... Huyo hakuwa ile nuru, bali alikuja ili aishuhudie ile nuru" (Yohana 1:6–8). Huyu ndiye shahidi wa kwanza katika Injili iliyojaa mashahidi, na angalia jinsi mwandishi anavyomlinda kwa uangalifu. Yohana Mbatizaji alikuwa mkuu — mkuu kuliko wote waliozaliwa na wanawake, Yesu alisema — na makutano walimiminika nyikani kumsikiliza. Lingekuwa jambo rahisi kuliko yote duniani kwake kuwashikilia. Badala yake aliendelea kuelekeza kidole kupita nafsi yake: "Yeye ajaye nyuma yangu amekuwa mbele yangu, kwa kuwa alikuwa kabla yangu" (Yohana 1:15). Fikiria jambo hilo — kabla yangu, ingawa alikuja nyuma yangu, kwa sababu Yeye alikuwako tangu mwanzo.Into the middle of this soaring hymn about the eternal Word, John drops a single human name. "There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light... He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light" (John 1:6–8). Here is the first witness in a Gospel full of witnesses, and notice how carefully the writer guards him. John the Baptist was great — the greatest born of women, Jesus said — and crowds streamed into the wilderness to hear him. It would have been the easiest thing in the world for him to keep them. Instead he kept pointing past himself: "He who comes after me is preferred before me, for He was before me" (John 1:15). Think of that — before me, though He came after me, because He was from the beginning.

Hivyo ndivyo shahidi wa kweli anavyofanya. Havuti macho ya watu kwake mwenyewe; anayavuta kwa ile Nuru. Kidole kinachoelekeza mwezi ni kidole kibovu ikiwa watu watakichunguza kidole na wasiinue macho kamwe. Yohana Mbatizaji alielewa jambo hili kwa kina sana hata wafuasi wake walipohangaika kwamba makutano walikuwa wakimwacha na kumfuata Yesu, alijibu kwa maneno yenye uhuru kuliko yote ambayo kiongozi aliwahi kutamka: "Yeye hana budi kuzidi, bali mimi kupungua." Kila shahidi ambaye Injili hii inamwita — nao ni wengi — anatumikia kusudi hilo moja: kukuelekeza mbali na wao wenyewe na juu kwa ile Nuru.That is what a true witness does. He does not draw the eye to himself; he draws it to the Light. A finger that points at the moon is a poor finger if people study the finger and never look up. John the Baptist understood this so deeply that when his own followers fretted that the crowds were leaving him for Jesus, he answered with the freest words a leader ever spoke: "He must increase, but I must decrease." Every witness this Gospel calls — and there are many — serves that one purpose: to point you away from themselves and up to the Light.

V. Alikuja Kwake — Lakini Wote WaliompokeaV. He Came to His Own — But As Many as Received Him

Kisha linakuja jambo la kuvunja moyo katika Dibaji, katika mstari mmoja mfupi: "Alikuja kwake, wala walio wake hawakumpokea" (Yohana 1:11). Nuru ilikuja katika ulimwengu ambao Yeye aliuumba, na ulimwengu aliouumba haukumtambua. Muumba alitembea kati ya viumbe vyake nao wakageuka na kumwacha. Hakuna sentensi yenye huzuni zaidi katika Agano Jipya. Lakini haiishii hapo, na mstari unaofuata ndio bawaba ambayo maisha yako yote yanazunguka juu yake: "Bali wote waliompokea aliwapa uwezo wa kufanyika watoto wa Mungu, ndio wale waliaminio jina lake" (Yohana 1:12). Je, umesikia mlango ukifunguka? Wote waliompokea. Si wote waliomstahili, si wote waliojipatia kwa juhudi, si wenye kustahili wala wa kidini wala walio safi — bali wote waliompokea. Na hawa, Yohana anasema, walizaliwa "si kwa damu, wala si kwa mapenzi ya mwili, wala si kwa mapenzi ya mtu, bali kwa Mungu" (Yohana 1:13). Kuzaliwa mara ya pili, kuzaliwa kutoka juu — ndipo hasa Yesu atakapompeleka Nikodemo katika sura inayofuata, na ndipo tutakapokwenda katika Sehemu ya 2.Then comes the heartbreak of the Prologue, in one short line: "He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him" (John 1:11). The Light came into the world He had made, and the world He had made did not know Him. The Maker walked among His creatures and they turned away. There is no sadder sentence in the New Testament. But it does not end there, and the next verse is the hinge on which your whole life turns: "But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name" (John 1:12). Did you hear the door swing open? As many as received Him. Not as many as deserved Him, not as many as earned it, not the worthy or the religious or the clean — as many as received Him. And these, John says, were born "not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God" (John 1:13). A second birth, a birth from above — which is exactly where Jesus will take Nicodemus in the very next chapter, and where we will go in Unit 2.

VI. Nasi Tukaona Utukufu Wake: Amejaa Neema na KweliVI. And We Beheld His Glory: Full of Grace and Truth

Yohana anamaliza Dibaji kama mtu aliyeliona jambo hili kwa macho yake mwenyewe: "Nasi tukauona utukufu wake, utukufu kama wa Mwana pekee atokaye kwa Baba; amejaa neema na kweli" (Yohana 1:14). Tuliuona. Kwa Yohana hili si nadharia; alikuwepo. Aliutazama utukufu wa Mungu ukitembea Galilaya katika mwili wa mwanadamu, umejaa neema na umejaa kweli kwa wakati mmoja — kamwe si neema kwa gharama ya kweli, kamwe si kweli bila neema. Na kisha neno la mwisho: "Hakuna mtu aliyemwona Mungu wakati wo wote; Mwana pekee, aliye katika kifua cha Baba, huyo ndiye aliyemfunua" (Yohana 1:18). Neno "aliyemfunua" ("declared") ndilo neno ambalo kutoka kwake tunapata "exegesis" (ufafanuzi) — Yesu ndiye ufafanuzi wa Mungu. Ukitaka kujua Mungu yukoje, usikisie, wala usiangalie angani tu. Mtazame Yesu. Yeye ametufafanulia Baba.John ends the Prologue as a man who saw it with his own eyes: "And we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth" (John 1:14). We beheld it. This is not theory to John; he was there. He watched the glory of God walk through Galilee in a man's body, full of grace and full of truth at once — never grace at the expense of truth, never truth without grace. And then the final word: "No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him" (John 1:18). The word "declared" is the word from which we get "exegesis" — Jesus is the explanation of God. If you want to know what God is like, do not guess, and do not only look at the sky. Look at Jesus. He has explained the Father to us.

Basi tunaanza pale Yohana anapoanza, ndugu yangu — si katika hori ya kulishia wanyama bali katika umilele, pamoja na Neno aliyekuwa Mungu, aliyeviumba vitu vyote, aliyefanyika mwili na kukaa katika maskani kati yetu, amejaa neema na kweli. Shika jambo hilo, na kila ishara na kila "MIMI NDIMI" na kila shahidi atakayekuja atatua kwa uzito wake kamili. Yeye ndiye Kristo, Mwana wa Mungu. Amini, nawe uwe na uzima kwa jina lake.So we begin where John begins, brother — not at a manger but in eternity, with the Word who was God, who made all things, who became flesh and tabernacled among us, full of grace and truth. Hold that, and every sign and every "I AM" and every witness still to come will land with its full weight. He is the Christ, the Son of God. Believe, and have life in His name.

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